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The Wee Free Men
The Wee Free Men, first published in 2003, is the second Story of The Discworld book for younger readers. While Terry Pratchett's first Discworld book for children, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents had swearing translated to rat language, in this book it is in the dialect of the Nac Mac Feegle which is taken from Scots and Scottish Gaelic. The novel contains a scene inspired by the painting called "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke", by Richard Dadd. An illustrated edition of the novel, with pictures by Stephen Player, was published. Plot summary The Queen of the Elves has another attempt at invading the Discworld, by stealing children and infesting dreams. With the help of the Wee Free Men, the Nac Mac Feegle, 9-year-old Tiffany Aching finds out that her grandmother used to be the witch of the Chalklands, and that she has inherited the trade. When her baby brother is stolen, Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle enter the elves' world to steal him back. Granny Weatherwax only appears in the end of the book with Nanny Ogg in a cameo. Book review This book acquaints readers with the endearing young character, Tiffany Aching, as she learns she has inherited the role and responsibility of being the local Chalk country witch. It's a thankless duty that falls squarely on her two small shoulders, but fortunately, she is not alone. Joining Tiffany along her chosen path (whether she likes it or not), are the feisty faerie clan, the Nac Mac Feegle. Not your average faeries of romantic folklore, the favorite pastimes of these little blue men include drinking, fighting, and thieving. It is in the company of these remarkably loyal companions that their "big wee hag" Tiffany discovers the gifts that make her special. "There was a small part of Tiffany's brain that wasn't too certain about the name Tiffany. She was nine years old and felt that Tiffany was going to be a hard name to live up to. Besides, she'd decided only last week that she wanted to be a witch when she grew up, and she was certain that Tiffany just wouldn't work. People would laugh." Terry Pratchett's writing intertwines fantasy and humour in a way that makes his books irresistibly pleasurable reads. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the American Library Association Notable Children's Books award for both The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, which are now included together in this one book. Fans of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson would certainly enjoy the magic realism of the Tiffany Aching series. For younger readers who may find this level of reading too advanced to tackle on their own, they may enjoy being read to from The Illustrated Wee Free Men, which features beautiful illustrations creeping throughout almost every page. Popular References Miss Tick had "twice been thrown in ponds". This was a real Roundworld test for whether a woman was a witch. If she floated she was a witch and was burned at the stake. If she sank, she was not a witch but drowned instead and went off to "heaven" - a better place in the eyes of the church who administered the test. The line, "I can't do,' said Miss Tick ... 'But I can teach!" is a reference to the old saw which says: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach". The British government changed the line to say, "Those who can, teach." as an advertising slogan to try and get people to train as teachers. "Jenny Green-Teeth." comes from Lancashire folk tales about a spirit or boggart who lived underwater named "Jenny Green-Teeth". Her presence was indicated by the growth of duckweed, which thrives in still fresh water. Like many legends of the fairy world, her existence is used to explain natural occurances. In this case, Jenny Green-Teeth specializes in drowning people, so any accidental drowning of a child can't be the result of an inattentive family member but has been caused by malevolent fairy people. Miss Tick's familial is a toad which is one of the clues Tiffany uses to determine that Miss Tick is a witch. In European folklore and folk-belief of the Medieval and Early Modern periods, familiar spirits (sometimes referred to simply as "familiars" or "animal guides") were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic - cats were common but toads were as well. Tiffany says to Miss Tick's familiar "'You're very yellow for a toad.' 'I've been a bit ill,' said the toad." Pratchett loves puns, which in this case the reader, rather than Pratchett creates. Clearly the familiar is a "yellow sick toad", a pun of "yellow brick road" from The Wizard of Oz. Keeping with the Wizard of Oz ''references, Miss Tick mentions that pointed witch hats are hard to come by, "... especially ones strong enough to withstand falling farmhouses." This is a reference to the Wicked Witch of the East meeting her end under Dorothy's falling farmhouse after it is swept away by the tornado. On the way home from talking to Miss Tick, Tiffany "... climbed to the top of Arken Hill ..." The legends concerning Arken Hill are similar to those of Dragon Hill, Oxfordshire (where some people claim St George fought the dragon) and Silbury Hill, Wiltshire (alleged burial site of a knight in gold armour. Both hills are flat topped, like Arken Hill, and believed to be man-made. Pratchett pokes fun at the various fairy tales: Red Riding Hood unable to tell the difference between her grandmother and a wolf; Cinderella, where the Prince chooses his bride based on shoe size; Jack and the Beanstock who can't tell that a cow is worth more than a handful of beans and then steals some poor giant's fortune; Hansel and Gretel, who think they can just walk around eating peoples houses and not expect consequences. The idea of an oven big enough to push a witch into. The little brother being stolen by the Elf Queen is another common folklore motif from earlier times; the child being taken by the fairies, or exchanged with an evil fairy child - a changeling. The baby might be well looked after by the fairies/elves or kept as a servant. In the Scottish ballad, ''Tam Lin, ''the Fairy Queen steals Tam Lin to pay her tithe to the devil. Again, as with Jenny Greenteeth, the disappearance of the child it not due to it wandering off unattended but to external evil forces. Similarly, when a child is changed, the problem is not with the parents' inability to find out what is causing the problem in behavior or health but is because it is no longer the same child - it is a changeling. The Feegles are Pictsies which is a pun on 'pixie' and 'Picts' (inhabitants of Scotland in Iron Age times). The Feegles' blue colour suggest Smurffs. The language they speak is a mix of Glaswegian slang, Gaelic and pseudo - Scots such as is portrayed in ''Braveheart ''and ''Rob Roy. They bear a striking resemblance to the stereotypical football hooligan, headbutting anything that gets in the way. The line 'yan, tan, TETHERA!' is actually an old northern English rather than Scots dialect, used for counting sheep in the dales of Yorkshire. Yan, tan, tethera, methera, pip, sethera, lethera, hovera, dovera, dick.' It supposedly came from Romanian shepherds who were transported to Yorkshire in the 19th century. The Feegles say 'It's a' gang agley.' which means 'its all gone badly'. It is used in the famous Robbie Burns poem, To a Mouse: '' "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley," The '''Headless Horseman' has been a motif of European folklore since at least the Middle Ages. He is traditionally depicted as a man upon horseback who is missing his head altogether or who is carrying his head in his arms and who is searching for it. The most famous myth arises from the short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," written in 1820 by Washington Irving but there is a Scottish legend as well which ties in with "Scottish theme" of the book. A 'bogle' is Scots for a ghost or apparition. Big Yan!'" is a reference to Glaswegian comedian Billy Connolly who is known as "The Big Yin". "Ach, see you, pussycat, scunner that y'are! .....Here's a giftie from the t' wee burdies, yah schemie!" translates as follows: 'Scunner' is a Scots word for something or someone to which/whom you've taken a strong dislike. A 'schemie' is a pejorative Scots term for someone who lives in a housing estate (a Housing Scheme) built as replacement for slums, but rapidly becoming slums themselves. The line, "... it means our kelda is weakenin' fast, ..." 'Kelda' is a Scots word derived from the Old Norse 'kelda', meaning origin or source (in the spring/well sense) The Feegles don't tell anyone their names for fear of the name being written down and used to identify them. Pratchett explains the way the written word can be used against you; writs, summons, warrants for arrest, wanted posters all very common in the Roundworld as well. He ends with the line "See their swords? They glow blue in the presence of lawyers." This idea comes from JRR Tolkein's The Lord of The Rings books, in which various weapons glow blue in the presence of Orcs and other evil creatures. The "odd carvings in the chalk" are common in the South Downs and Wiltshire area where there are large expanses of chalk. The Cerne Abbas Giant (also known as the Rude Man), the Long Man of Wilmington and the Uffington and Westbury White Horses to name a few. Pratchett uses this in Lords and Ladies as well. Translations *Волният народец (Bulgarian) *''Svobodnej národ'' (Czech) *''De små blå mænd'' (Danish) *''De Vrijgemaakte Ortjes'' (Dutch) *''Tillud vabamehed'' (Estonian) *''Vapaat pikkumiehet'' (Finnish) *''Les ch'tits hommes libres'' (French) *''Kleine freie Männer'' (German) *Χιλιάδες Νάνοι κι ένα τηγάνι (Greek) *''בני החורין הקטנים'' (hebrew) *''L' intrepida Tiffany e i piccoli uomini liberi'' (Italian) *''Mazie brīvie ķipari'' (Latvian) *''Mažieji laisvūnai'' (Lithuanian) *''Skrellingene'' (Norwegian) *''Wolni Ciutludzie'' (Polish) *''Scoţiduşii liberi'' (Romanian) *Вольный народец (Russian) *''Små Blå Män'' (Swedish) Film In January 2006, director Sam Raimi signed up to make a movie based on this novel, from a script by Pamela Pettler, the writer of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Sony Pictures Entertainment have recently acquired the rights to the book. The producers are Josh Donen, Vince Geradis, and Ralph Vicinanza. In June 2008, Terry Pratchett confirmed that the film was likely cancelled. In a June 2008 interview, Pratchett said "I saw a script that I frankly thought was awful. It seemed to be Wee Free Men in name only. It had all the hallmarks of something that had been good, and then the studio had got involved. It probably won't get made." References Category:Novels Category:Tiffany Aching series Category:Books (real-world)